Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Pre-Flight Checklist

I'm off to Maine tomorrow for a little holiday cheer with my family. As this involves airplane travel, in a few minutes I plan to crawl under my desk and sob quietly.

Before that, a few loose ends to tie up.

Scribble, Scribble

Another weird leaf from the sketchbook.

New(ish) Blog

I have been extremely remiss in not mentioning a new blog that I quite like. Celtic Knitter is funny and smart and knits beautiful, creative pieces. He is also the only blogger I know whose profile picture includes a harp.

I always thought it would be so cool to play the harp. The first one I ever saw in person was owned and operated by Miss Seymour, the lady who conducted the first and only orchestra in which I ever played. This harp had flowers carved around the top. Lilies, as I recall. Very pre-Raphaelite.

I was maybe eight or nine, and I was in the violin section. Eighth chair out of eight. I mostly wanted to play the violin because I wanted to own one. Violins make great decorative accents. I used to take mine out of the case and arrange it on my desk in the sunlight, with my handsomest books and a couple of dried flowers, as a vignette.

I was no good at playing it. Screech. The only piece of music suited to my tone would have been the "Duo miaulé" (a duet for two cats) in Ravel's opera L'Enfant et les sortilèges.

I remember thinking it funny that Miss Seymour was very long and skinny and taut-looking, like a harp string. I also remember her nose, which was distinctive. When I went to see The Hours and saw Nicole Kidman's prosthetic, I felt a shock of recognition.

Miss Seymour told us that if we touched the horsehair on our bows that our eyebrows would fall out. I can't recall anything else she ever said. No, not true. She would scream "You are not attending!" at anybody who wasn't looking at her while she was speaking. Of course, I thought she was so freaky looking I couldn't take my eyes off her.

In the next episode of Cast On, I'll be whining about last-minute knitting and why, for me anyhow, it's definitely a Guy Thing. If you're one of those who took the time (thank you so much) to write and tell me how much you hated my first piece, I can promise you that you'll hate this one even more. I am nothing if not consistent.

Reader Questions

Helen asked for the link to the New Yorker's archival posting of the short story "Brokeback Mountain." As far as I can tell, it has just been taken down. The story was published outside the magazine in an Annie Proulx collection called That Old Ace in the Hole. But it has just been issued by itself, in a slim volume with the film poster on the cover, under its own title. (C bought it for me for Christmas. Yay!)

Marie in Texas wants to know what the other three books were that I threw away after trying to read them (the first being Annie Proulx's The Shipping News).

They were Cry to Heaven by Anne Rice, The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkein, and Rabbit, Run by John Updike.

State of the Ruana

Finished. Pictures will be taken of the garment on the recipient. Unless she throws up on it when she sees it, as happened in my nightmare a few weeks back.

37 comments:

I must admit, when I got to the Fellowship of the Ring, it drove me batty. I coped by cheating. I peeked ahead to the part I was interested in and that's what got me through it. I was in highschool at the time and I had a major crush on Aragorn. I drew pictures of him. I read his back story in the appendix.

Really? I liked your segment on CastOn very much. There is nothing like laughing aloud while knitting on the Fullerton bus, and having a bunch of people looking at you like you are a loon. It is just an average Monday morning for me. I wonder if they thought my knitting was funny. I did get to sit by myself, so I guess there are the good and the bad in every situation.

Amen on the "Shipping News". I don't know how I did it,but I did finish it. I'm a Flight Attendant and I had Scott Glenn on a flight to Seattle for the Opening of the movie and I had told him that I had read the book and found that it was a very difficult read. He agreed with me as well as his wife and said they struggled to finish it. Can't wait to see Brokeback Mtn. Just finished listening to it through Audio Books. Campbell Scott does the read and a very good job.

I enjoyed the segment on CastOn. Actually, I really enjoy the whole concept of CastOn. What great knitting accompaniment. Your humor was a great addition to whole program. I hope you will become a regular there?

My daugher plays the harp, and it's quite beautiful. BUT, you think the ruanna is big and a pain in the neck to haul around.... trust me, your parents were onto something with the violin thing. In my next life, my kid plays the piccolo.

Congratulations on finishing the ruanna and she will NOT throw up on it. Not even possible.

Have you considered Zazzle.com for the cafepress items? They have more sizes-- I would love to get the Kali knitting on a baseball shirt (it's the raglan sleeves that do it to me, every time!) but I'm not a "jr" anymore, so . . . ;o)

The best part of LOTR was when Sam traipsed around the Shire, sprinkling magic dirt and planting trees. The rest I could have lived without, but in those days, of course I read/skimmed all of it/them. How much textile stuff was in there?

Marge and her sweater have got to go on a bag at the least. I like all your "sketches" but that's the best yet.When travelling on a plane, take a book, sit in an isle seat and pretend you're on a Greyhound bus. Works for me.Barb B.

Thank you so much for the great honourable mention!! Sorry it took me so long to get to read it . . . I just finished my first sweater . . . and I can appreciate the last minute knitting comment. I just finished half a sweater in a few days and I'm a really slow knitter.

Tiffany not only explored the various jewelry processes of the time, Silver Tiffanybut also branched out into new metals, such as platinum, Tiffany Jewelrywhich at the time was considered very hard to manipulate.Tiffany BraceletsIt seems to be the case that unusual colorations appealed to Tiffany, like the opal.He also preferred gemstones that were either opaque or translucent. Tiffany EarringsTurquoise, jade, carnelian, lapis, moonstones, and opals were all chosen for their ability to filter light. Tiffany NecklacesEmphasis based on color was very prevalent in his works.

Tiffany not only explored the various jewelry processes of the time, Silver Tiffanybut also branched out into new metals, such as platinum, Tiffany Jewelrywhich at the time was considered very hard to manipulate.Tiffany BraceletsIt seems to be the case that unusual colorations appealed to Tiffany, like the opal.He also preferred gemstones that were either opaque or translucent. Tiffany EarringsTurquoise, jade, carnelian, lapis, moonstones, and opals were all chosen for their ability to filter light. Tiffany NecklacesEmphasis based on color was very prevalent in his works.

Its like you read my mind! You appear to know so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you could do with some pics to drive the message home a little bit, but instead of that, this is great blog. A fantastic read. I will definitely be back.

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